A guide to the six (and counting) prequels at various stages of development.
You are having a hard time maintaining control. This is understandable. The number of War of Thrones The developments underway at HBO are getting quite stunning. Here are all the programs The Hollywood Reporter know about (so far) that are part of the network quite ambitious Took Succession plan:
Dragon House: This is the only show that is definitely going on. Situated 300 years before the events in Took, Dragon House (people will even call this show HotD at some point?) tells the story of Casa Targaryen when Daenerys’ ancestors ruled Westeros. The events of the show will eventually lead to the famous Dance of the Dragons (the Targaryen civil war). The series stars Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Paddy Considine and Matt Smith (here’s which character each actor plays) and co-hosts Ryan Condal (Cologne) and Miguel Sapochnik (who directed some of the best episodes of Took, including “Battle of the Bastards”). Like all Took prequels in the works, the project is executive produced by the saga author George RR Martin, who is working closely with the writers on each idea. Dragon House going to shoot in England (unlike Took, which was based in Northern Ireland) and is due to start production in April. The first season has 10 episodes and is scheduled to air in 2022.
Now, here are the ideas in development / competition for an eventual series order. None of the following items are guaranteed to go live. HBO content director Casey Bloys has said he wants more than one Took next series, but that “10 would be awesome” (if 10 sounds like a silly number, remember that Disney + announced 10 Star Wars projects last December following The Mandalorianhuge success of). Given the goal of parent company Warner Media to have 125 million HBO Max subscribers by 2025, it would come as no surprise if more than one of them made progress. Like Dragon House, all designs are prequel to the original series.
Dunk and Egg Project: This is based on Martin’s popular soap operas (The Hedge Knight, The sworn sword, The mysterious knight) who follow the adventures of the walking knight Ser Duncan the Tall (Dunk) and his squire (Egg), who would later become King Aegon V Targaryen. The story takes place 90 years before the events of the series The Chronicles of Ice and Fire by Martin. Curiosity: Egg’s brother was Maester Aemon (Peter Vaughan) in Took and there is a touching reference to the character when Aemon is on his deathbed in Season 5 and says, seemingly delirious, “Egg, I dreamed I was old.”
Nymeria Project: This revolves around warrior queen Nymeria, a revered ancestor of Casa Martell who founded the kingdom of Dorne (she became so legendary in the kingdom that two characters took her name in the original series – Sand Snake Nymeria Sand and Arya’s direwolf). Its history takes place about 1,000 years before the events in War of Thrones, making it much older in the Westeros timeline than any of the other previously announced projects in progress (HBO filmed a prequel movie in 2019 set even further back during Age of Heroes, but never made it to the series) . Furthermore, War of Thrones added a storyline involving Dorne in the middle of the series that fans felt struggling to feel like an organic part of the show. If it got the green light, the Nymeria project could give Sunspear an entirely new and redemptive view. The provisional title of the project is 10,000 ships, a reference to Nymeria ordering that all her ships be burned after bringing her army from Essos to Dorne so that there is no turning back (Martin, a history buff, was probably inspired here by the legend that Hernán Cortés burned his 600 ships after arriving in the New World in 1519). If you have the green light, you can bet on the team’s option for Nymeria – a name that is unique, strong and Game of Thrones-y – in the title.
The sea snake: With a provisional title of 9 trips, this is from Pomegranate creator Bruno Heller and follows Lord Corlys Velaryon, also known as The Sea Snake, Lord of the Tides and head of Casa Velaryon. The maritime character also appears at the next green light Took prequela Dragon House, where he is played by British actor Steve Toussaint. In Martin’s tradition, Velaryon is the husband of Princess Rhaenys Targaryen (played by Eve Best in Dragon House) So this effort represents a potential spinoff for a character in a series that has not yet been filmed. In addition, given the cast of Toussaint, The Sea Snake may represent the first Took project with a black person as the main character.
Flea Bottom: This project takes place in the famous King’s Landing slum of Flea Bottom – the maze of narrow streets in the capital where characters like Davos Seaworth and Gendry Baratheon were born. You can imagine this having a little bit of Peaky Blindersvibe -in-Westeros; something exploring the lives of ordinary citizens and the criminal underworld, instead of powerful lords and ladies.
Took animated drama series: There is still no details on the subject or style of this animation project, but an animated enterprise offers some advantages of storytelling: it can portray an abundant amount of spectacle in addition to the same Took patterns, and / or can tell a story that spans a considerable period of time – many of Martin’s previously published supplemental materials are in an encyclopedic form that outlines thousands of years of Westeros’ history, a joyful style of narrative that is very easier to portray screen using animation, where producers could quickly introduce various characters and scenarios and then move on quickly without having to cast actors or build scenarios.
There are rumors that other projects are also underway, but the ones above are the ones reported more solidly.
In addition, there was a Game of Thrones prequel that is no longer under consideration – an untitled project starring Naomi Watts from writer Jane Goldman that was set thousands of years before the events in Took and focused on Age of Heroes leading to The Long Night. HBO did a pilot for the project in 2019 and then decided not to come up with the idea for the series.